Court Case
by Ponchygirl
Summary: A gift for my dear friend AnErrorHasOccuredLoadingLife. Ponch and Bear were supposed to be in court, however sometimes things don't turn out as planned. Sergeant Joe Getraer hadn't planned to spend his weekend searching for two missing officers.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story is dedicated to AnErrorHasOccuredLoadingLife_

**The Court Case **

Barry Baricza laid in bed, not wanting to get up. The alarm on his fitness watch started to go off. A soft vibration against his arm. Nothing more. "Hmm?" He mumbled into his hand. He'd been hard at work the night before, preparing for a court case. He and Ponch were supposed to be there at seven that morning, but it took took a couple hours to go from L.A. to Bakersfield. Ponch liked to be early, and considering the traffic they figured it might take a little bit longer than they originally planned. Nothing ever seemed to go the way it should.

The vibrating continued, Bear cursed under his breath. He sat up, yawning. "It can't be that time already," he said, glancing at the clock he saw it was almost 4. "No...no!" he jumped up and rushed around, getting himself ready for work. He needed to be out the door by three-thirty to pick Ponch up. After the case was over they could go home. They didn't have to work today, so Bear agreed they could just go in together, keep each other awake.

He rushed out the door, running to the car and getting in. He would have called ahead to say what happened, but he didn't have the time to talk, he needed to focus on his driving. Trying to keep from going above the speed limit, Bear rushed to Ponch's apartment. To his surprise, Ponch wasn't even waiting for him yet. "Ponch…" he whined even before going into the apartment. He didn't even see a light on, and he could see Ponch's room from the parking lot. He headed up, and let himself in.

The room was dark, and surprisingly clean. He didn't bother to look around much, he headed straight down the small hallway to the bedroom, where Ponch was laying in bed. He was in uniform, and clearly had been up recently unless he slept in uniform. His feet hung off the bed, and Bear heard soft snores coming from his friend.

He sighed. "Man, I wish we could be sleeping," he said heading over to the bed. He hadn't even laid a hand on Ponch before Ponch woke up. Ponch rolled over quickly and fell right off the bed. "Hey! Who's here!?" he asked, starting to panic, his back still turned.

Bear bit his lip. "Um, Ponch-"

Ponch turned around. "Barry!? What are you-" he started then looked at the clock, he hopped up. "We should have been on the road a half hour ago!"

"I know, I know! I over-slept!" Bear said as they rushed out the door.

"It's fine, I hope traffic isn't bad."

"It's 4 in the morning, Ponch! No one should be up at this hour!"

Ponch laughed, he couldn't disagree with that.

oOoOo

They'd been on the road for a little over an hour now. Ponch sat in the passenger seat, and kept falling asleep. Bear had to keep talking, hoping it would keep him awake. Occasionally he looked over and told Ponch to wake up. "You said you'd keep me company, remember? That's why we rode together," Bear said as he watched Ponch trying to wake up again.

He yawned. "Sorry, Bear. That was before I didn't get sleep last night."

Bear sighed. "Well, you can sleep on the way home. What should we talk about?"

Ponch shrugged. "We don't have to talk," he said as his eyes closed again.

"Ponch!"

Ponch's eyes popped open. "What? Are we there?" Ponch looked around, only seeing open road for miles.

"No! You said you would-' Bear started. "Never mind... sleep," he sighed.

Ponch didn't respond.

Bear yawned.

"Don't fall asleep," Ponch mumbled.

Bear rolled his eyes. Keeping his eyes on the road instead of sleeping wasn't an easy task, as he heard soft snores coming from the passenger seat. He yawned again, his own eyes closing for a short moment. He felt the car start to swerve, his eyes opened. "Dang it..." He muttered, trying to keep his eyes on the road. He soon found himself falling asleep again.


	2. Chapter 2

Sergeant Joe Getraer sat at his desk, trying to have a relaxing day. Not exactly something common for a police job. However Poncherello and Baricza were both gone for the day, he'd at least be spared two headaches. Or so he thought.

It was seven o'clock, he knew they should have been to the court house by now. He tried to keep himself from worrying, there were so many other things to think about. But he had a sick feeling in his gut that this wasn't going to be a good day.

oOoOo

Bear woke up, to the feeling of a cool breeze blowing through his hair. He looked around, confused. As soon as his eyes opened he found he wasn't inside his cruiser. He was laying in a patch of grass. His cruiser crushed and upside down nearby.

He looked around, seeing they were still in the middle of nowhere, now sitting in an embankment on the side of the road. "Oh no...no, no no..." he looked around. "No...I fell asleep. Getraer is going to kill me!" he cried, looking at the heap of twisted metal. He laid back, trying to relax. "How did I even get out here anyway?" he asked himself. Then it hit him, Ponch was with him...but where was Ponch? "Ponch!?" he called, looking around. "Ponch!?" he slowly got to his feet, feeling dizzy. "Ponch?" Bear felt tears sting his eyes. "I killed him..." he said, without having any evidence to prove it. He fell back down onto the grass. "I killed him..."

On the other side of the cruiser, Ponch laid in the grass. He hadn't heard Bear calling for him, because he was just waking up himself. Bear had fallen asleep at the wheel, which resulted in this outcome. Ponch had woken up seconds before the crash, but couldn't do anything to stop it. He opened Bear's door and pushed him out of the car when he woke up the first time. He unbuckled Bear, Bear was awake at that time. He helped get him out, then Bear didn't say anything after that. Ponch assumed he was taking some time to relax.

It took a lot of work and energy to get out of the cruiser. He wasn't sure about Bear's injuries, but was relieved to know he was at least alive. Ponch took a deep breath. "Joe's going to kill us..." he muttered. Ponch's head was killing him, and he wanted to go home. He looked at his watch, it was seven. That meant it had been a few hours. That also meant they were late for court. Ponch had remembered waking up about an hour ago, but he hadn't done much. He moved, but was in pain. His head was killing him. "Why does the sun have to be so bright?" he turned his head.

After laying still for another couple minutes, he decided he needed to get up. He sat up, just that small movement felt like too much work. "Barry?"

On the other side of the car, Bear continued to cry. "I can't believe I killed him..." he heard his name being called from the other side of the car. "Ponch, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! Please...stop talking to me..."

Ponch shook his head, not sure he understood what Bear meant by that. "Hey, man...I told you not to fall asleep, but you're going to have to try harder if you wanted to kill me." he forced a laugh.

Bear wiped at his eyes. "But-" he started. He stood slowly, limping over to the other side of the car. A small smile reached his lips. "I didn't kill you," he said relieved, as he collapsed beside his friend.

"Nah, you killed the cruiser though. Getraer might kill us."

Bear sighed.

oOoOo

Joe finished briefing, and was on his way back to his office. He heard the phone ringing, and sighed. "Sergeant Getraer," he said answering the phone. He frowned, listening to a complaint claiming Baricza and Poncherello hadn't shown up to court that morning. "They what?" Joe frowned, listening to the same thing repeated again. He hung up, and sighed. "Is it too much to ask, to have one day without Poncherello getting into trouble?" he talked to himself, already deciding this was Ponch's fault. He could trust Bear though, right? Bear would fix whatever happened...wouldn't he?

That sick feeling started to return. As much of a troublemaker Ponch was...as much as he hated going to court; Joe knew that Ponch would never _**Not **_show up. He'd never force Bear to not show up either. As much as he wanted to believe it was just one wrong turn or something, he knew it couldn't have been. Someone had to find them now.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite soreness, Ponch couldn't lay beside the car any longer he needed to move. Needed to find help. He'd tried to get on the radio but it didn't work.

Barry had thought if they walked long enough in the correct direction they'd find something. A person, a car, a building...maybe another officer. This was a good idea...however neither one of them were thinking straight. They had argued over which way to go, Bear tried out the way Ponch wanted, but after a few minutes had given up and turned around, heading back for the car.

Ponch followed, trying to get Barry to turn around...but then decided to just listen to him. He might've been right anyway. Had they been thinking they would have remembered a gas station that was just a few miles down the road from where they had crashed. A gas station had been put in recently so those who were on the long trip would have a place to stop for gas or other reasons.

This station was a few miles down the road in the direction Ponch had wanted to go. They walked in the opposite direction. Road for miles and miles nothing else.

They weren't getting far, very fast. It was all slow walking with occasional breaks. Ponch as usual tried to pretend he was fine and push through the pain to get them somewhere. He was more concerned about Bear's health than his own. However with Bear's constant complaining, it didn't show that his mind was on helping Bear.

"Not a single car," Bear said, looking back.

"Huh?"

"We've been out here how long? No cars. Does no one drive this road?"

"Oh, not on a Friday, Bear!" Ponch joked.

"What?"

Ponch rolled his eyes. "It was a joke, but I see you're not in the mood."

Bear smiled at him, shaking his head. "You know what Ponch? You're funny. You really are."

"Really?" Ponch's smile returned to his face, thinking he had finally cheered up his friend.

Bear's smile faded. "No."

Ponch didn't say anything, his head hurt too much to argue with Bear. He assumed Bear wasn't feeling well either. They walked in silence for the next few minutes. _This was a bad idea._ "Maybe we should go back to the car?"

"You mean...we're not already going back to the car?" Bear replied, confusion in his voice as if he had already forgotten which way they were going, how long they had been traveling, and why. As if he had forgotten they'd already left behind the remains of what used to be a decent highway patrol car. Bear looked at Ponch waiting for an answer.

"You okay, man? We left the car twice already. It's too much work to turn around and go back." Ponch had completely forgotten it was his idea to go back to the car. The more he tried to think the harder it got. The more he tried to think the worse his headache got.

"How do we even know there's something else out here!" Bear whined. His head was killing him, that and the sunshine beating down on him made him feel sick. He wanted to pass out or throw up...or both one right after the other. "I'm tired. I'm sore. I'm nauseous. I need water. I need shade. My head hurts. I could be dying ya know? We never had our injuries checked out. I'm sure you're not feeling well either. Did I mention I'm tired?"

"Yeah," Ponch nodded. "You did. You failed to mention you're whiny too."

Bear made a face at him. "Come on, Ponch!"

"Barry, we were supposed to be in Bakersfield hours ago. I have a feeling, they notified Getraer about us not showing up, and if I'm right he'll be looking for us. If he's looking for us, wouldn't you like to get to a phone so we can call the station and tell him where to go?"

Bear sighed. "How?" he muttered. "Even after an accident and little sleep. HOW are you still so aware of everything!? How did you already come up with a practical idea!? How do you know if we're going in the right direction!?"

Ponch stopped walking for a moment, taking a break. He wasn't in as good shape as Barry thought. His legs were killing him, and his head felt like someone was pounding it with a hammer. Despite that, he tried his best to think straight and come up with an idea. He was thankful to have even thought about how Getraer would be looking for them. The problem though was he couldn't remember what the number was to call the station. He couldn't remember where the car was, what road they were on. He couldn't even remember what they were supposed to be in Bakersfield, or if that was where they were actually going. He also didn't know why Getraer would be looking for them, it just seemed likely as somehow Getraer always knew when Ponch was in trouble. Even if he wasn't with Jon when it happened. Would he suspect anything if Ponch was with Bear though?

"What's wrong? Why'd we stop?" Bear asked, as if he hadn't just been complaining a little while ago about how he needed a break.

Ponch looked up at Bear, and opened his mouth to respond. He couldn't get words to form.

"Ponch?" Bear turned to him, just in time to watch his friend fall over. Bear cursed under his breath. "Ponch!" he knelt beside him. "I'm sorry, I won't complain anymore. I won't complain about you trying to push through everything even though you're not well. I'll stop...please...please just wake up!" he cried. He looked around. "Why did we have to crash out here!?" As he knelt beside him he became even more aware of how sore he was, he almost cried, but kept it in. The only thing he couldn't keep in was the vomit that spilled from his mouth, thanks to his intense nausea growing worse.

Here they were, stranded on the side of the road. One of them passed out, the other throwing up and about ready to pass out himself. In the middle of nowhere. "How are they going to find us?"

Bear shook Ponch again, but received no response. He didn't want to wait around here so he decided to try to pick him up. Had he been feeling better it would have been easier... but he felt so weak after lifting Ponch he barely got a step before collapsing, dropping Ponch and landing on top of him. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Wake up please! I need you..."

He looked to the sky and silently prayed someone was looking for them.


	4. Chapter 4

When Ponch woke up again, he and Barry were sitting in the backseat of a stranger's car. Bear was talking with the driver, while sipping from a water bottle.

"Thanks again for helping us out," Bear said, he hadn't noticed Ponch was awake. When the car drove by them on the side of the road, Bear was for once thankful they had been in uniform. Seeing two officers stranded on the side of the road, people would normally stop to help. Had it not been for that, Bear felt this whole experience to be embarrassing. Had he gotten the proper amount of sleep, he would have been able to make it to the court house. They may even have been home or on their way home by now.

He didn't want to admit the whole thing was his fault. Thinking quick, he lied and told the man his police cruiser was having troubles and they ended up crashing into the ditch. He internally kicked himself as the words came out. _What a great example of the CHP I am. If he finds out I lied that'll be worse. _ He glanced at Ponch, who appeared to be asleep still. _please don't wake up until we make it to the hospital. I can't risk you telling the truth. _Bear internally kicked himself again. His thoughts he never thought he would have. Lying. Hoping his friend would play along with the lie. He wasn't even under cover, what a great officer example he was being right now. _He'll never have to know. _Bear assured himself.

Ponch had hardly been conscious two minutes, before he was ready to go back to sleep. Anything to escape the pain. He didn't remember getting into this car though, and something felt off. _It smells funny..._ He thought, but dismissed the thought, unable to think clear enough to make the actual comment. His thoughts clouded over, by his pounding headache. His eyes opened again for only a few seconds, as he tried to figure out where he was. "Barry?' he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Barry jumped slightly at the sound of his friends voice. _dang it. _He glanced at the Puerto Rican officer, slumped against the car door. No one had even bothered to buckle. Bear didn't think anything of it. Sitting in the back of a stranger's car for some reason felt normal to him. Had he not also been dealing with the similar headache and impaired thought process, he would have known something wasn't right.

What was that strong scent coming from the front seat?

Bear sighed. "We're getting help, Ponch," he said finally.

Ponch nodded, as a sudden wave of nausea hit him. _I shouldn't have moved..._he leaned against Bear, hoping that'd help. However the sudden movement made him feel worse, resulting in him throwing up on Bear.

_I deserved it. _Bear thought. His outward reaction wasn't the same. "Gross...Ponch!" He whined.

The driver glanced back, and shook his head. "I was worried this might happen."

Neither officer questioned what the driver said. No one could have heard it over the sound of Bear's complaining.

oOoOo

Getraer made an announcement over the radio about officer's Poncherello and Baricza's disappearance. Hoping one of his officers would have seen them or at least know something. No such luck, and now he was out searching himself. "Never would have happened if Jon was in town," he muttered as he drove down a stretch of freeway.

Jon Baker had taken off on a vacation at the beginning of the week. He was lucky missing out on this. However, Getraer already determined if anything serious had happened he would have to call Jon. Right now Bear and Ponch were only missing, which wasn't good. But, he didn't know if there were any injuries or even what happened. There was no sense in ruining Jon's vacation by making a call with so little information to go off of.

"I never should have let this happen," he talked to himself. "I knew it was a bad idea putting the two of them together during the rainy days this week. Why couldn't I just trust Poncherello to patrol alone?" He shook his head, nearly laughing at the question. "I know why I can't trust him."

He continued down the road. Taking the same way towards Bakersfield that he assumed they would have been taking. Soon coming across a scrap heap sitting in the ditch. He cursed under his breath when realizing that CHP cruiser was one from Central. Calling it in, he got off his bike and rushes down. "Barry!? Frank!?" He called, looking through the doors. No one in sight. He shook his head, they couldn't have gotten too far, right? The accident looked bad enough, he was sure they didn't come out scratch free.

A knot began to form in his stomach. _They'd better be okay._

_A/N: Thank you JediJelsa777 for helping me get unstuck with this story. :) _


	5. Chapter 5

Joe started to drive down the road, hoping his officers wouldn't be too far away. He didn't know when the accident was or what condition either of them were in. _i hope they're okay... and haven't gotten far. _He dreaded the possibility of having to call Jon. It wasn't long before he spotted a car on the road. He kept a slight distance as the car seemed familiar. The more the thought about it he finally realized the car fit the description of the get away vehicle from the bank robbery that morning.

Joe called it in, not waiting for back up and started to speed up.

oOoOo

Inside the car, the man was driving trying to ignore the two officers in the back seat. _I never should have helped them. What was I thinking? _He said, his nerves already shot from his early morning activity. 25 year old David Harrison was not one to get into trouble. His whole life he'd had a squeaky clean record. It wasn't until he recently when he lost his job that he had actually seriously considered getting into some trouble.

Jokingly he had made a comment to his roommate about how he should rob the bank so he could make rent. His roommate laughed, shaking his head then said 'You could never pull it off.' As if those words were a challenge to him, David began preparing himself for what would be the biggest mistake in his life. Coupled with the mistake of bringing these two officers along instead of taking them to the hospital like he had said he would.

Not only had he robbed the bank taking just enough for two months rent, and nothing more. He also went in his roommates car. The car had marijuana stuffed under the front seat, hoping it would calm him down, David had tried to smoke. Learning quickly he hated it... but now he couldn't get the scent out of the car.

_I'm such an idiot! _He chastised himself._I have to go far away...and create a whole new identity. I can never come back to California. I can't risk it. I can't. _He shook his head, lost in his thoughts..He couldn't hear Bear complaining about being covered in vomit... he'd tuned them out. And he didn't notice the CHP motorcycle coming up right on his tail. _Evan will kill me if I don't bring his car back...but I guess he can't kill me if I never come home. _He thought, the thought not a pleasant one. But he would learn to live with it. He had to. This was his life now. The only thing he needed to figure out was what to do about the two CHP officers in his back seat. If he hadn't robbed the bank, and were his normal self he would have taken them to the emergency room.

Now he was trying to think like a criminal. What would a bad guy do? _Hold them hostage in case I need a shield...or a get away. _He thought, without hesitation. The fact the thought had come so quickly made him feel sick to his stomach. _Maybe it's the weed making me do this? _He thought, but he knew it was unlikely with how little he smoked. Even the scent being in the car wasn't that bad, he'd kept the window cracked to get it out. It wasn't easy.

In the backseat, Bear scooted as closely to the door as he could, not allowing Ponch the opportunity to lean on him any longer. "This is nasty! I can't believe you threw up on me!'

Ponch felt tears in his eyes that he couldn't control. "I...I'm sorry, Barry."

Bear shook his head, and looked out the window. He glanced over at Ponch momentarily, before looking away again. "This whole thing is your fault, you know?'

"My fault!? I'm not the one who fell asleep at the wheel!' Ponch shot back.

Bear gasped slightly. Why had he even started the argument in the first place? It was as if he couldn't think or control his actions. "You were supposed to keep me awake!'

"You let me fall asleep."

Bear sat silently trying to come up with something else to say. He was surprised David had kept quiet, but maybe he was still tuning them out as he seemed to have been doing most the ride. "Sit up" Bear said, trying to help Ponch sit up.

Ponch didn't help at all, he tried to stay down. "Bear, it's not a good idea."

Bear sighed, and glanced out the window a moment, while muttering something about how he wasn't sure how Jon could handle being with Ponch all day at work. "No wonder he needed a vacation," he added.

Ponch did his best to tune him out. For once, trying to pay attention to how he was feeling physically. And he knew trying to argue more with Bear was exhausting. He felt thankful Bear never had a regular partner. But perhaps Bear was only acting this way for two reasons. 1. He hadn't slept well, and had to get up early. And 2. Obviously the accident didn't leave either of them in the best shape. Ponch tried to not hold this against him, and began to close his eyes again.

Bear looked out, noticing Getraer. He looked towards the driver. "Hey, there's an officer," he started to say.

David glanced out the window, seeing Getraer..he cursed under his breath, then hit the gas. The sudden change in speed with no warning caused both Ponch and Bear to fall forward. This time they both threw up with the movement.

"Are you crazy?!" Ponch spat, "He's trying to get you to pull over." He hardly had the strength to sit up and find out what happened. But curiosity beat out caution, and he sat up. The intensity of his headache grew, along with another wave of nausea. Bear would surely murder him if he threw up again. Now it wasn't so much if he threw up on Bear, Bear was disgusted at the amount of puke in the backseat all over the floor, the seat and even each other. It was nasty, Ponch wouldn't deny that. He felt gross... but he didn't feel the need to make Bear feel any worse than he already did about it. He just hoped they'd find clean clothes and a clean place to stay soon.

oOoOo

Getraer sighed when the car sped up, he'd half expected that. He flipped on his lights and sirens, continuing after him. It was only a few moments later when another motorcycle officer and cruiser showed up to help.

The continued after the car, silently praying no one would get hurt, and the man inside would come to his senses. Their prayers had been answered soon enough, when the car started to slow down. _Odd...but thank you, God... _Getraer thought, as he pulled off to the side of the road, a safe distance behind the car.

He'd hardly gotten off his bike when the door swung open.

"Freeze! Put your hands were I can see them!" Officer Jeb Turner commanded, his body hidden safely behind his stopped cruiser, hand on his gun. He had no need to pull it out since the man wasn't holding a weapon.

The man held his hands up and started to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!' he cried, dropping knees. Jeb glanced at Getraer, then to Grossman, the other officer on scene.

Grossie and Getraer approached David, while Jeb stayed behind for back-up.

David cooperated getting handcuffed then stood, sniffling. "You have to help the two officers in the backseat," he said.

"What?" Getraer asked, glancing towards David's car.

"I found them on the side of the road honest! I didn't kidnap them!"

Before Getraer had a chance to respond the door opened, and Bear slowly climbed out, trying to fresh air.

Getraer breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm assuming Poncherello is in there too?' he asked, his question soon answered when Ponch also got out. It wasn't long before both officer's collapsed on the ground. Both too physically exhausted to continue fighting their pain. At least Joe, Grossie, and Jeb were there to help.


	6. Chapter 6

"He threw up on me, twice!" Bear exclaimed, sitting up to look at Joe.

"It was an accident!" Ponch tried to defend himself. They each laid in their own hospital bed, having been told they had to stay overnight for observation. They didn't request to share a room, but they doctor assumed they wanted it since they had been through the accident together. He assumed they were close friends.

Joe sat in a chair in between both beds, trying to talk to both of his officers to figure out what had gone wrong. Joe already had to deal with the court so they knew what had happened to the officers who failed to show up. Then he had to deal with Jon who had called several times to ask about Ponch.

_He's fine,_ Getraer had said over and over. Hoping that those words would calm the blonde officer but it hadn't.

'_he's in the hospital!'_ Jon had said.

Getraer acknowledged it, then proceeded to explain what he knew and that Ponch and Bear had come out of the whole accident with only a few minor injuries and concussions. "They're going to be okay."

Jon still wasn't sure he believed it. Why would Ponch have called if he was fine? He would have been getting out soon, right? But instead he had called asking for Jon's help to 'break him out' and to 'save him.' as he stayed in a hospital room with Bear.

How long had they been there? Why had they been there? How long would they still be there? None of those questions had been answered by Getraer, aside from the why. Jon insisted that he would come back home as soon as possible. Joe didn't believe it, but he would find out soon enough.

Joe sighed putting his head in his hands. "I saw." He looked back up. "I saw how you looked when you got out. I also saw," he paused glancing at Bear. "Your cruiser. Just what happened out there!?"

Bear and Ponch looked at each other, then to Joe, then back to each other. They each pointed at the same time, while saying "It was his fault."

_Oh brother. _"I don't want to hear who's fault it is, I want to know what happened."

Bear sighed. "So we left early. Neither one of us like getting up early. Ponch fell asleep in the passenger seat. I told him to stay awake to keep me awake. He opened his eyes told me to stay awake, then he fell asleep. I got sleepy."

Ponch looked away, when he noticed Joe looking at him.

"I guess I fell asleep at the wheel," Bear continued. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You almost killed us!"

"Hey, you should have been awake," Bear shot back.

Joe sighed. _This is going to be a long week..._

_A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long to update! I know this chapter was short, but I didn't want to water it down by adding in too much filler and unnecessary dialogue. I hope you enjoy. :-)_


End file.
